Rose
by Fleur de Fur
Summary: This is my first fanfic! Its a story inspired ny the lammastide poem, on which a selection of autors wrote their stories. This is my contribution.


This is based on the Lammastide stories. I hope you like it. Feel free to review it if you like. Its my first Fanfic and I don't think my style is brilliant.  
  
Also, some of the punctuation such as apostrophes, dashes and speech marks show up as wacky symbols and I didn't know how to rectify this. Any tips to unicorn@moonprincess.co.uk. Help greatly appreciated!  
  
Otreska's name and the info about necromancy are all taken from a book called the Wolf of Winter by Paula Volsky. I really liked her way of describing necromancy, its benefits and dangers, and Otreska's name comes from the name of a dukedom in the book.  
  
Rose  
  
Otreska struggled along the path, her sack was a heavy load weighing her down and her cloak, full of water from the incessant rain, only added to her burdens. Despite the coldness of the rain, made worse by the freezing cold Romanian wind that was constantly blowing – most unseasonal for summer, even late summer as it was now – she felt warm inside. The warmth was constanly growing, just like the weight of her burdens, and it soon became visible in bright stripes across her eyes. And then. Blackness……  
  
She awoke with a start as a ray of weak sunlight crossed her eyes. Expecting to find herself in the shade of a tree, her regular sleeping spot, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself in a bed. A nice large soft one in a sturdy wooden frame, delicately carved with roses. The room had simple furnishings to match, but was bare of any homely decoration that would have made it personal. She assumed that somehow she had booked herself into an inn and had a memory lapse, it wouldn't be the first time… but she was over those lapses, those dark holes in her brain now. Another explanation. She mused over this while chewing on a thick strand of her dark hair but her train of thought was interrupted by someone letting themselves into the room.  
  
"Good afternoon," came the deep, heavily accented voice of a large woman whose skin appeared coarse and wrinkled. "So good to see you awake."  
  
"Wh-what am I doing here?" It seemed like it had been so long since she had spoken to anyone that she struggled to speak.  
  
"We were returning from a trade fair over in Latski 6 days ago" - Otreska had been to that fair a month ago, it held bad memories and she shuddered at the name – "and we found you lying in the road, obviously out of your head with some fever. So we brought you here, it's the only place with a spare bed. This house has been empty for just over a year now," the woman explained.  
  
"Thank you, madam," said Otreska, "I had no idea I was so ill"  
  
"Its Dara, dear. You children need to be more careful. Now eat this soup and then rest."  
  
Otreska was slightly offended at being called a child. She was seventeen and considered herself a woman, she had wandered the land and taken lovers. After eating the soup she fell asleep, the effort had exhausted her. But the sleep wasn't refreshing. It just reminded her of Latski. The pain and humiliation in the stinking mud behind some tacky trinkets tent, the blood at the corner of his mouth, her hasty departure….  
  
She awoke with a start again but this time it was dark. Night time. She was struck by pangs of hunger and calling for Dara she received no reply and so assumed that the woman must have returned to her own residence. Throwing back the covers she swung her legs out of the bed but when she was upright she had to lean on the ornately carved headboard to steady herself as her head spun, but was soon right again. Thankfully the curtains had been left open to reveal a full moon that helped light her way as she had no candle. Looking at the moon she smiled and whispered a prayer to the Lunar Goddess, in whose House she had been trained with her magic. The cluster of stars tattooed on her left middle-finger knuckle was the marking that signified her as a journeyman sorceress from the Lunar House. On the next full moon, lammastide, she would turn eighteen and by then she would have been declared a Sorceress. As soon as she was well she would have to get back to the House. She couldn't wait. The three years on the road after her 10 years inside the House had been eye-opening but now they were tiresome and she just wanted to be Anointed so that she could settle.  
  
Clumsily she stumbled in the hallway outside her room, as there were no windows here and she couldn't see all of the cabinets that lined the wall. Looking in a few rooms she found another bedroom, a library and then something that made her forget her hunger. A Wizard's workroom. Looking round it as best she could she became excited at the sight of the many useful tools. She looked until her eyes began to hurt from lack of proper light and so returned to the bed in anticipation of a day spent in such a fascinating room.  
  
Within the next week she regained her strength and discovered that the house had belonged to the village wizard, who had died performing a spell just over a year ago. The house was hers to keep if she so wished. Otreska found that the people of the village were growing on her and within a month she would be Anointed and free to settle. Why not here? It was a tempting offer. But there was another discovery that she had made that made staying here even more tempting.  
  
As soon as she was able to walk about without being forced to rest by dizzy spells, as well as getting to know the villagers, she spent as much time as she possibly could in the Wizard's workroom. As well as many useful tools and scrolls there was a chest with a magicked lock. She firstly assumed that it probably contained money, and in a friendly place like this everyone left their doors open so it was best to have precious items locked away, just in case. Placing her hands on the lock she formed a key in her mind and used it to open the chest. Inside it there was just one dusty battered looking tome written in a romanistic language. Her mother's side had been traveller folk and when they had visited the village where she lived she had talked to them in a similar language. Looking at the cover she was shocked and pleased, it was a book on necromancy.  
  
Before she had left the House, her and Damian, her first lover, had dabbled in this forbidden Art, getting ghosts to spy on the people they didn't like or play tricks on them. However, it had its price. In Otreska it had showed as small memory lapses. Damian's mind had been left broken and now he was a gibbering idiot, kept on as a cleaner at the House. He had no recollection and so hadn't been able to inform the teachers that she had been in on it with him. However, the feeling of power it gave you, she could never forget. So tempting to have one more try……  
  
Soon she was dancing and singing the song, she could feel a spirit close by too. Feeling the power growing and growing she reached the penultimate note and then – there he was. A man of about thirty with long hair and a handsome face. He called to her  
  
"Rose."  
  
Realising she musn't be fully healed, Otreska had to let go of the spirit for she tired quickly. However, although the image disappeared she could still feel his presence following her round the house for the rest of the day.  
  
He could still be felt at the end of that first week, when she had to pack her belongings to make the trip back to the House. It was a warm sunny day when she left. The villagers lined the main street to see her away and she said goodbye to all of them, promising to return within the week after her Anointment. She was grateful for the loan of a horse, a sturdy black cob called Midnight, and she made excellent time back to Lunar House, despite his plodding pace. Throughout the journey the man had plagued her mind. Who was he? Seeing as he had appeared after she had opened the chest containing the book on necromancy, she assumed he must be the wizard who had lived there previously, dying after performing some necromantic act. She knew there was danger in damaging the mind, but it must have been a dangerous and complicated spell for him to perish.  
  
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The ceremony was wondrous. Her and her year mates were gathered in a large white hall wearing gowns made of a material that shimmered and changed colour like crystal. One by one they were called up to the three heads of the House and Anointed with Moonwater. Incantations were chanted as each candidate strode forward  
  
"… honest and pure…"  
  
Otreska's heart was racing as she strode forward, would they know what she had done?  
  
"…wise and all-knowing…"  
  
No, they had many powers but they couldn't read minds. As she knelt before the three she glanced round and noticed Damian gazing absently at nothing in a corner and then he turned and stared straight at her. She quickly looked away, trying to keep her calm and composure and then was filled with cool bliss as the Moonwater was dripped on her head.  
  
"Praise to the Moon Goddess," she said.  
  
Many of the newly anointed Wizards and Sorceresses hung around celebrating and enjoying the feast that was laid out for them, discussing what they would do now they had been Anointed. Otreska only wanted to do one thing, get back to the village. Leaving as soon as she could she set off despite the fact it was starting to turn dark. Had Midnight been her own horse she might possibly have rid him non-stop until they reached the village, however, she didn't think Pater would have forgiven her if she rode the elderly horse to death.  
  
The villagers welcomed her back with open arms and she spent most of her first day back telling them all about the wondrous ceremony and in return she managed to glean information from them about the wizard. His name was Marcus and he came to the village when he was twenty with his young wife, Rose, who had then died in labour about ten years ago. Although the Wizard had stayed with them, he never took another wife as he never quite seemed to get over the death of Rose and his son, turning into a sad, brooding man. The name Rose struck a chord in Otreska's mind.  
  
"What did she look like?" she asked nervously.  
  
"AH she was a beauty," replied Pater. "Hair as black as night, pale skin, bright blue eyes, slim. Aye, an attractive one. You have a bit of a look of her, were you related?"  
  
Otreska didn't think so and then feigned tiredness from her long trip so that she could get back to her house. Once inside she went to her bedroom and unpacked all the clothes that she had taken with her and took extra care folding up her crystal-like robe. She was startled by what felt like someone gently kissing her on the neck and whirled round to find the room empty but there was something new in it. A red rose. On her bed. A lover's token. She picked it up and smiled, smelling its sweet perfume and then realised that there were no roses in the village. He must have given it her. Twirling it round in her fingers she caught her thumb with a thorn and some of the blood dropped on the bed.  
  
A faint whisper came to her.  
  
-We're bound-  
  
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He began courting her in her dreams and she found him to be an excellent lover, although every time he appeared he had the necromancy book in his hands. His hands that bore the mark of the Lunar House like her. The stars on the knuckle and a crescent moon in the webbing between his thumb and forefinger to signify he had been Anointed.  
  
He wanted to convince her that in the short time he had known her he had grown to love her. It would have been easy for her to fall in love with him too. He was very handsome with his hair being almost as black as hers and his skin was softly tanned, these details had been hidden from her in the whitewashed spirit she had conjured before. However, she was worried that he mistook her for Rose, something he tried to assure her against, pointing out that she was a sorceress and very clever. Although Rose had been beautiful, she hadn't been very intelligent but had made up for this in her gentleness and abundant kindness.  
  
She had to question him too on why he always had the book with him. It was because he had died performing a spell from the book, to bring his Rose back to him. But she had died a peaceful death and so couldn't be summoned. He had discovered this too late and had been too far into the spell to stop it from killing him.  
  
He also needed her to do something for him. Soon. On Lammastide. On her eighteenth birthday. He couldn't open the book in her dreams but he promised her that he would show her the page tomorrow if she got the book out.  
  
And so she was in his workroom, watching as the pages turned as if by a breeze until they rested upon a spell. A spell to bring the dead back to life. He wanted her to bring him back to life. She gasped, she didn't know if she was up to it but he had convinced her of his love for her and maybe, she was falling in love with him too. She mused over this while holding the page in her thumb and forefinger and let it drop. Instead of landing on the page with the spell it landed on the next page and when she looked down she was shocked to see it was exactly the same spell.  
  
Or was it?  
  
Careful perusal showed it to be the same except for the final word. This was a spell to banish spirits that weren't at rest. She wasn't sure what she should do. Much as she wanted to have him she didn't really know him and maybe Rose and his son were waiting for him in the world Beyond. Surely he would want to be reunited with them? It was tough deciding, she only had that night and the rest of the next day to think about. That night he stayed out of her dreams, probably so she could prepare mentally, she assumed. She hadn't told him about the other spell and she didn't know whether he had seen her looking at it…  
  
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It was Lammastide night. Otreska had placed candles all around the workroom and had drawn a circle of protection around herself. She had spent the day learning the spell by heart and now she was ready although she still hadn't decided what she was going to do. Bring him back to life or banish him? Taking a deep breath she calmed her nerves by thinking of the pure serenity of the Moonwater and then began the song.  
  
It was complicated and long and at points she was wondering if maybe she should give up, for this was a dangerous spell that could cost her her life. Then she realised that she was too far into it and if she did give up she would die and become a spirit, trapped in the chest with Marcus, waiting for another Gifted person to find them. But what were the chances of another who would take the risk in necromancy coming along?  
  
She reached the penultimate note and could feel her spine tingling as she sang it and let forth the power that had been building up.  
  
Please Goddess.  
  
And then he was there. So handsome in the flesh. And naked. She felt a bit weak but still managed to find the strength to fetch her crystal-like robe from her room. Wrapping it round him he smiled.  
  
"Thank you," he whispered.  
  
They stared longingly at each other for a few minutes before she broke the silence. Why hadn't she considered this earlier? Love had blinded her.  
  
"We have to leave," she said urgently. "This was a strong use of power and the Elders will know I've performed necromancy and will be coming to kill us for its forbidden use"  
  
"I'm sorry," Marcus replied with his rich voice. "We'll leave as soon as possible but first… let me kiss you."  
  
She smiled and nodded.  
  
The language that the book had been written in wasn't exactly the same as the one she had spoken with her family. If she had understood it properly she would have known that it didn't bring the dead fully back to life. Instead they were incarnated as the Undead. Vampire.  
  
Otreska was occupied with the amazing sensation of kissing him in the flesh and was pleased when he softly began to kiss her neck. Her smile was replaced by a look of astonishment as he bit her neck and began to drain her blood. Soon she lost consciousness from the blood loss.  
  
Marcus scooped her up in his arms. His love. A Rose that would never wilt. Now they would be together always. Undead. Immortal. Running. Forever. 


End file.
